A meter box fire at a Regina home was contained quickly and the damage is relatively minor. The cause, however, is rare.
Three meter boxes have caught fire this week in the city.
“It’s the weather, it’s the dry conditions that are just pulling down, you can see ground settling of between 4 and 8 inches and that ground is taking the wire with it when it pulls down,” SaskPower Regina Operations Manager Ryan Blair said.
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It’s prompted SaskPower to dispatch workers to ensure boxes are safe. They also want residents to take a look at their meter.
“Please don’t touch the meter box, look for the ground settling around your house, you will see that it had dropped… Or if the meter box is actually tilted on the house,” Blair said.
It’s not unusual for soil to shift in Regina, putting pressure on house foundations. AAA Solid Foundation‘s Steve Bauer makes a living repairing this damage, and dry weather causes him serious concern.
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“Big gaps in the soil, so when it rains instead of getting soaked into the soil and the soil absorbing it, it goes right to the bottom, and then you get water in your basement through your floor wall connections,” Bauer said.
Unless damage is caused by an earthquake, most insurance policies will not cover crack and holes from shifting ground, but in instances with meters, the fire damage is covered.
Bauer advises residents to take precautions in order to avoid damages.
“So we don’t want the soil to be very dry, but we don’t want it to be too wet to cause pressure on the foundation. So right now it’s a good idea, and I’m not saying soak your foundation but just water it so there is some moisture there,” he said.
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